Transcript File - Mr. Gunnells` Social Studies Class

Unit 6, Lesson 3
The Tang Dynasty of China:
To what extent did Tang Dynasty rule
bring China a Golden Age?
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The Tang Dynasty
• The Tang ruled Ancient China from 618 CE to 907 CE.
• Some historians argue that the period of the Tang Dynasty
was a Golden Age for China.
• During Tang rule, there was relative peace and prosperity.
• China was one of the most powerful nations in the world at
that time.
• China during the Tang Dynasty probably had the largest
population in the world, as well as the largest city in the
world.
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• Think back to the past unit when we
learned about the Gupta Empire. We
investigated the extent to which the
Gupta Empire was a Golden Age for India.
• Stop and Jot: What makes a Golden Age?
• Turn and Talk to share the ideas you
wrote for your Stop and Jot.
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Golden Age
(review from Unit 5)
• A Golden Age is a period of great peace,
prosperity, and happiness in a particular area.
• Period = significant length of time
• Peace = relatively free from war and violence
• Prosperity = overall economic well-being for a
society in general; many people in the society feel
secure financially
• Happiness = people generally feel good about
their lives
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The graphic organizer below is also from Unit 5,
Lesson 5 on the Gupta Empire.
Central rule
and influence
over larger
area
Advances in
science, math,
art, and other
areas
General
period of
peace and
prosperity
Golden
Age of the
Gupta in
India
If the Tang Dynasty was also a “Golden Age,” what predictions
can you make about the Tang Dynasty? Turn and Talk.
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The beginnings of the Tang Dynasty
• Towards the final years of the Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE), the rulers
before the Tang, there was conflict and unrest throughout China.
• The Emperor of the Sui had been very harsh, and this led to
rebellion and chaos as many people resisted his rule.
• An official from emperor’s court, Li Yuan, turned on the emperor
and formed an army in 617 CE.
• Li Yuan’s forces captured the capital city, Chang’an. Li Yuan put a
new emperor on the throne, even though the old emperor was
still alive in a different part of the empire. Li Yuan made himself
prime minister.
• When the ruling emperor was murdered by one of his associates
in 618, Li Yuan proclaimed himself the new emperor and took on
the title Tang for the new state.
Stop and Jot: Make a connection. Do these events remind you of
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past empires or leaders?
The Tang Dynasty existed at the same time as other important empires of Era 4, but didn’t
last as long.
Turn and Talk: Based on what you know about past empires, make a prediction about what
led to the fall of the Tang Dynasty.
Era 4
500 CE
Byzantine
Empire
525 CE
525
Islam
founded –
610 CE
600
800
900
1000 CE
610
Umayyad
and
Abassid
Caliphates
Tang
Dynasty
700
661
750 Abassid
Umayyad
618 CE
907 CE
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Turn and Talk: Make another prediction… Which of the other
empires shown on the map above do you think had the most
contact and conflict with the Tang Dynasty?
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This map to the left shows the
extent of the Han Empire.
This map to the right shows the
extent of the Tang Empire, some
400 years later.
Turn and Talk: Do you see a difference
between the territory of the Han and Tang
Dynasties? What changed or did not
change? How might you explain this
pattern?
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Picture of a plateau
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Population?
• The capital of the Tang Dynasty was Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), and it
is believed to have been the most populous city in the world at the time.
• During the Tang Dynasty, the government carried out a census at
different times (when the government counts households- people living
together- and individual people).
• According to a census from the 8th century (maybe around 750 CE), the
population of China was just above 50 million people.
• Some historians and demographers (people who study large
populations) believe this census was not accurate, and that the
population of China was probably closer to 80, or even 90, million
people at that time.
• Turn and Talk: What might be some of the reasons that this census was
not very accurate?
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One reason it may have been hard to get an
accurate count of the population during the
Tang Dynasty is that there were large
numbers of people who were migrants.
The word migrants refers to people who
move around a lot within one country or
area, usually because they are looking for
work.
There were many migrant laborers in China
who moved around working on different
farms, and because they moved around,
they were hard to count.
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Advances of the Tang Golden Age –
Carousel Activity
• Step 1: Your teacher will give you a handout with a
three-column chart on it (Student Handout 3). In
small groups, you are going to think about the
following categories related to the Tang Dynasty.
–
–
–
–
Technology
Culture
Leadership & Systems (government, transportation)
Interactions & Influence (dealing with other empires and
societies)
– Decline
• In the middle column, make your best guess as to what
advances might have been happening in each category.
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What was happening during the Tang
Your conjecture, or best guess, about advances or
Dynasty with respect to each of the
changes in this category that helped create a Golden
categories below that made it a Golden Age
Age.
for China?
Notes from Carousel Activity readings... what
actually happened, according to the readings?
How does these changes show a Golden Age?
Technology
Includes anything related to new
technologies, such as printing, military
inventions, and food production
Culture
Includes religion, the arts, and lifeways
Leadership & Systems
Includes anything related to leadership,
government, bureaucracy,
communications, and transportation
Interactions & Influence
Includes anything related to Tang
interactions with other empires or
kingdoms, as well as their influence on
surrounding areas like Korea and Japan
Decline
Includes anything related to the reasons
why this Golden Age ended and why the
Tang lost power
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Step 2
• Now you will work through a series of learning stations with
your group in a carousel activity.
• At each station you will focus on one of the categories. Read
the handout, discuss it with your group, and then take notes
in the appropriate space in the third column on the handout.
• Remember that your focus is on what was happening in that
category that made the Tang Dynasty a Golden Age.
• The last row on the handout, however, asks you to think
about the decline of the Tang Dynasty, so you will approach
that category differently as you think about why the Tang
lost power.
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Art in the Golden Age of the Tang
• You will now explore Tang art. After each slide, Turn and Talk using
these questions to guide your conversation, and then Stop and Jot on
the note tracker (Handout 3 – Art in the Golden Age of the Tang).
– Describe what you see. What is the work of art and what does the
caption say?
– What you can infer (your best guess) from this work of art about Tang
society?
– Think about these questions as well, which you will answer once you have
looked at each piece of art:
• How can we learn about what was important to a society by studying their art?
• Based on these works of art, what are our best guesses about what was important to
people during the Tang Dynasty?
– Note… maybe what we are really thinking about is what was important to
artists, and/or to the people who paid artists for their work!
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Spring Outing of the Tang Court, by Zhang Xuan (713－755 AD)
This painting shows members of the Tang Court, nobles or elites in the society, on
some sort of recreational outing.
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A golden bowl made during the Tang Dynasty.
Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618 - 907)
Excavated at Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, 1957
This figure depicts the typical clothing of a
Tang Dynasty official; tall hat, wide-sleeved
outer garment tied at the waist with a wide
belt, and rectangular "kerchief" in front. A
white inner gown hangs over his square shoes.
He solemnly holds a tablet to his chest,
preparing to provide a report to his superiors.
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A Tang period gilt-silver jar, shaped in the style
of a northern nomad's leather bag decorated
with a horse dancing with a cup of wine in its
mouth, as the horses of Emperor Xuanzong
were trained to do.
A tomb guard (wushi
yong), terracotta sculpture,
Tang Dynasty, early-8th19
century
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was the
seventh emperor of the Tang
dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to
756. His reign of 43 years was the longest
during the Tang Dynasty. In the early half
of his reign he was a diligent and astute
ruler, … and was credited with bringing
Tang China to a pinnacle of culture and
power.
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The Fall of the Tang Dynasty
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Common features of the falls of
empires in Era 3…. (from Unit 5)
Inequality and
corruption
leading to
unrest
The Huns
(outside
invaders)
Extensive
Borders
The Fall of
Rome, Han,
and Gupta
Empires
Epidemics
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Stop and Jot then Turn and Talk:
Inequality and
corruption
leading to unrest
and rebellion
Conflict with
outside forces,
defeat
Extensive
Borders
The Fall of
Rome, Han,
and Gupta
Empires
Epidemics
How was the Tang Dynasty similar?
Which of these factors also affected the Tang?
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• The Tang Dynasty
had lots of
interaction with the
societies on the
edges of its empire.
Both trade and
conflict occurred as
the Tang tried to
expand their
influence.
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Dynasty
Turn and Talk: Quick review question… what types of products do you think were
being traded in this area? What were the trade routes called?
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http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/militancy-central-asia-more-religious-extremism
Approximate zone of
Abassid control
Approximate
zone of Tang
control
Both the Tang Dynasty and the Abassid
Caliphate had relationships with smaller
kingdoms on the edges of their areas of
control. In order to gain influence, they
sided with different kingdoms in their
conflicts. The Tang and Abbassids ended
up on opposite sides in a war between
kingdoms near the Fergana Valley.
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Approximate location of the
Battle of the Talas River
http://epicworldhistory.blogspot.com/20
12/09/battle-of-talas-river.html
http://www.washburn.edu/cas/history/stucker/Eurasia1200Essay.html
The Tang army and the Abassid army, along with armies of their allies, met at a battle on
the Talas River. Some historians argue that this battle changed the history of Asia in
important ways.
Exit Pass: Make a prediction. How could a battle change the history of a large area?
What might have happened, or NOT happened, because of this battle? (You will get
some answers to this in the next lesson!)
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Property of Oakland Schools
Authors: Stacie Woodward and Darin Stockdill
Editors: Amy Bloom
Academic Review: Ian Moyer
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